A friend- Regulus Black Oneshot
by WriterAB
Summary: Regulus Black is in his first year of Hogwarts, and doesn't have many (or, rather, any) friends. But when someone takes him by surprise and shows him a whole other type of magic, has he finally found a friend?


At some point during First Year, Regulus realised that he wasn't going to get many friends if he asked them what their blood status was after he asked their name. He sat alone at meals, not meeting anyone's eyes, and spent most of his time sure he didn't bump into Narcissa and Lucius in the hallways, as the two of them were always watching him, concerned. He tried to convince himself that this was a good thing- it would be easier to study without friends distracting him, after all.

It didn't work.

It was one day in the courtyard, when frost was starting to lace the ground, and Regulus was sat on the floor, reading a textbook. There weren't many people around. None of them were Slytherins, for which he was glad. He didn't really get along with many of the Slytherins- they talked loudly and laughed a lot, while he preferred silence and studying, even though Narcissa and James Potter had both promised him he wouldn't need to study in First, Second, or Third Year. Thankfully, none of the Slytherins- even the ones who whispered about him behind their hands, as though he couldn't hear- were stupid enough to bother the Little Prince of the Black family.

He heard someone come up behind him. He turned, hoping that it wasn't Sirius- he wasn't in the mood for an argument. Instead, a girl stood behind him, wearing a toothy grin and a Hufflepuff scarf. She pointed beside him.

"Can I sit here?" she asked politely, and Regulus nodded, surprised.

She flopped down beside him, and her smile widened even more. She was pretty in the way eleven year olds were- unblemished skin, sparkling brown eyes, and soft hair that flowed loosely from her head. She pointed at his textbook.

"You studying?" she asked, sounding surprised. Regulus looked to see if anyone was watching. No one was, so he looked back.

"Pre-studying," he said. "I like to get ahead."

The girl tilted her head. "Really? I think you should have been sorted into Ravenclaw. Where are your friends? What house are they in?"

Regulus brushed off the question. "What do you want?"

The girl's smile fell slightly. "Just to talk." She saw the coldness in his eyes, and cleared her throat uncomfortably. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a worn box. She smiled slightly at the confusion on his face.

"What's that?" Regulus asked, setting his textbook to the side and shuffling closer.

She didn't answer- she just opened the box, and pulled what looked like thick paper, cut into rectangles. She offered him one, and he took it, holding it gently. Black shamrocks were in the dog-ear corners, as was the letter K. A man with a sword, a crown, curled hair and a moustache was at one side… but also the other, still the right way up. Regulus frowned, turning the card upside down and back again.

"Why doesn't he go the wrong way up?" Regulus asked, and the girl smiled. "What _are _these things?"

She handed him another one, this one with diamonds and the number five in each corner. He frowned again, and she handed him the whole stack. He looked through them.

"They're called cards," she explained, as he looked at a bored queen who was holding a flower. "There's four suites- the diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs- here, these," she said, pointing to the shamrock. "And there's thirteen different cards in each suite- an ace- these A things here- then numbers from two to ten, then a queen, a king, and a jack. Then there's two jokers."

Regulus' eyes flew to the Gryffindor tower, and then back to her. He passed her the cards back, and she pocketed them.

"What else do you have?" he asked eagerly. She grinned, and he smiled back. She reached into her robes, and brought out what looked like a rainbow coloured tube. She gave it to him, and as he took it, half of it slipped. It bounced on the floor, and then back up like a spring. Regulus gaped at it.

"What's _this_?" he said, holding it at both ends and making it dance.

"It's called a slinky."

"Where did you _get _this from?"

The girl shrugged, watching him, smiling. "They sell them in most shops."

"I'll need to look out for one of these in Diagon Alley," Regulus said eagerly. "This is amazing!"

"It glows in the dark, too," she said, and Regulus gave a surprised laugh.

"Really?" he said. "What else can it do?"

The girl's eyes lit up. "It can walk down stairs," she said, her voice hushed like she was telling him a great secret.

Regulus looked up, eyes wide. "Can it really? Would you show me?"

They hurried inside, and ran up the stairs, two at a time. When they were at the top of a flight of stairs, they turned. The girl put the slinky on the floor, and then threw it in the direction of the stairs. Regulus whooped as it started walking down the stairs.

"That's great!" he exclaimed as it came to a stop at the end. "What spell is that?"

The girl tapped the side of her nose, grinning. "A secret one. Want to see another trick?"

"It can do _more_?" Regulus asked hungrily, but the girl shook her head.

"Not really. But the _cards…_" she took out the cards, which seemed quite boring after the slinky. Regulus wrinkled his nose, but picked a card and memorised it as she instructed. It was the jack of shamrocks- no, clubs.

"Put it back," she said, and he did. She put the cards behind her back, and pulled a concentrated face. She put them back in front of her, shuffling the cards so fast they looked like blue and white blurs. She picked a card randomly, and shoved it in his face.

"Is this your card?" she shouted, and he shook his head, trying not to laugh.

"No, sorry," he said. "Mine was the-"

"Don't tell me!" she insisted. "It's… _this _card, right?"

She showed him another card- the nine of hearts. He shook his head again, and her face fell.

"Is it this one?" she said half-heartedly, holding another card. He shook his head, and the girl sighed.

"Could you go and get the slinky?" she asked, and he nodded, trotting down the stairs. He scooped it up and turned around, mouth open to reassure her that his card was probably quite hard to find. But she wasn't there. One of the cards was floating in the air, the back facing him. He frowned, letting the slinky fall from his fingers. He ran up the stairs, and snatched the card. He turned it around.

"My card!" Regulus shouted in glee. "This is my card!"

"I know," the girl said from behind him, grinning.

"Legitimacy?" he asked, touching his hair lightly. He felt slightly invaded, but she shook her head. "What, then?"

The girl's grin widened. "No magic," she said. "Just a little muggle trick."

Regulus' smile fell. "Muggle?"

The girl nodded, taking the card from him and putting it back in the card pile. "Yeah. Well, not the card floating in the air, but yeah."

"Muggle?" Regulus repeated, as she went to get the slinky.

"Yeah," she repeated. "My friends told me not to show any Slytherins, because they don't like muggles or muggle things, but you seem to…" she trailed off when she turned back and saw his face. "Oh," she said softly. "You do mind."

Regulus could feel what the expression on his face was like. Completely frozen, teeth bared slightly.

"You're a _muggle-lover_?" he said through his teeth.

"Muggleborn, actually," she said softly. "But I don't see how that's a-"

"Problem?" Regulus finished. "You don't see how it's a _problem_? You lied to me!"

"You didn't ask me if I was a-"

"Muggleborn?" Regulus finished again. He turned, and started walking away. He heard her running after him.

"It didn't make a difference, though, did it?" she said, jogging alongside him. "We still had fun, right?"

"With muggle toys!" he spat. She paused, and then carried on jogging.

"So? What difference does it make?"

"I can't be friends with a-"

"With a what?" She grabbed his wrist, making him look at her. "With a what?"

Regulus' face screwed up, and then relaxed. He took his wrist away from her, and then wiped it on his robes, making sure it wasn't subtle.

"A mudblood," he said, simply, coldly. He started walking again, and wasn't exactly sure if he was pleased or not that she didn't follow him this time. He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his hands, as he heard a small sob coming from behind him.


End file.
